People typically have one or more recurring commutes. Examples of recurring commutes include traveling from home to work, from home to school, or from school to work. Shopping can be difficult as time demands are spread across other activities. Synergizing commuting with shopping would enhance both experiences and could reduce wasted time. Currently, however, available options for shopping or soliciting purchasing information include a “bricks and mortar” environment and a “virtual shopping” environment.
In the “bricks and mortar” environment, customers visit local businesses to find products of interest. This often involves having to physically visit a business to determine pricing and availability of desired goods. Shopping in a virtual environment, such as the Internet, involves browsing for products on-line to be delivered later. Shopping on-line requires a waiting period for products to be delivered and a level of faith that the transaction will be completed securely. In both of these environments, the burden of seeking the lowest price and adequate availability of desired goods is placed on the consumer. It is the consumer that must peruse through the barrage of local advertisements to find the best prices at various locations. Moreover, neither environment allows commute information to be used in making purchasing options.
The Internet can be browsed by a variety of client devices such as personal computers, handheld devices, mobile phones and the like. No shopping paradigm leverages the various technologies available via the Internet, businesses, and client devices with commute information to marry the benefits offered by both the “bricks and mortar” environment and the “virtual shopping” environment. The current state of the art could be improved by providing a system and method for providing purchasing information related to a commute or to a location. There is a need for a method and system whereby customers can submit requests for purchases and have pricing information of disparate products returned from one or more providers.